Victor Wanyama sees AFCON 2027 as turning point for Kenyan football

Wanyama reckons AFCON 2027 could transform the country's sporting landscape while inspiring Harambee Stars to achieve their best-ever finish.

Kenya will co-host the continental showpiece alongside neighbours Tanzania and Uganda, making history as the first three nations to jointly stage the Africa Cup of Nations. It will also be the first AFCON to return to the CECAFA region since Ethiopia hosted the tournament in 1976.

While Kenya have automatically qualified for the finals as one of the hosts, they will still participate in the qualifying campaign after being drawn in Group D with South Africa, Guinea and Eritrea.

Wanyama believes the benefits of hosting AFCON extend well beyond the action on the pitch.

"For a long time in Kenya, sports has suffered because there haven't been many facilities and people end up squeezing into the little that is there," Wanyama told CAFOnline.com.

"Hosting a tournament of this magnitude ensures we construct world-class stuff and this ends up improving the sport."

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton midfielder pointed to the newly built 60,000-seat Talanta Stadium in Nairobi as one of the major developments that will help reshape football in the country.

The football-specific venue, featuring a design inspired by traditional Kenyan shield and spear motifs, is expected to become one of the tournament's flagship stadiums.

Wanyama also believes the global attention generated by AFCON will help showcase Kenya's footballing talent to the world.

"People majorly know Kenya for athletics but now we have an opportunity to sell our football and our talent," he said.

Having captained Kenya during their previous AFCON appearance in Egypt in 2019, where Harambee Stars exited in the group stage after winning one match, Wanyama is confident the current squad can surpass that achievement.

"Hopefully the Kenyan national team can use the home advantage to make historic performances," he said.

"I captained the Kenyan team at our last AFCON and we won only one match in Egypt. I am confident, however, that this Kenyan team can do better than us and move into the latter stages."

Wanyama added that if the recent African Nations Championship (CHAN) delivered positive results for Kenya, AFCON 2027 has the potential to create an even greater football legacy for generations to come.